I wasn’t about to put my hands on a woman who didn’t know me and hadn’t agreed to let me.
“Just, uh, don’t fight the shift,” I said, shoving my hands in my pockets.
The alternative was touching her.
I had to clench my jaw and grit my teeth as I watched the wolf and woman suffer through minute after minute of a rough, painful shift.
I’d need to get some of the guys to teach her how to shift properly.
Even if she rejected me, it was only fair. My wolf was the reason she was in this mess.
Hers was the longest shift I’d seen in years.
I wanted to help her, but that wasn’t exactly in my skill set, and I wasn’t going to risk making her feel violated.
Eventually, the woman was fully in control again. Her bare, strong body was folded in the fetal position, her forehead pressed against the floor and her back rising and falling wildly as she tried to catch her breath.
Her arms were wrapped around the top of her head, and her nearly ass-length dark hair was sprawled around her wildly.
I shouldn’t have been hard at the sight of her, vulnerable and recovering from what must’ve been a hellish level of pain.
I was anyway.
“Why does that hurt so fucking badly?” Jade finally groaned, not lifting her head.
“You’re fighting the wolf.” My voice was lower and grittier than it should’ve been. Intense attraction was to blame. Fighting it wasn’t worth the effort. The woman was fucking gorgeous.
“How can I be fighting an invisible wolf?”
“The fight’s not physical.”
“None of this makes any sense.”
“I don’t think it’s supposed to. Welcome to Moon Ridge.”
“Thanks, Jones,” the woman drawled.
My cock jumped.
I needed to get my shit together.
Jade finally peeled her face off the ground. “This isn’t epoxy. It’s nicer.”
I blinked.
She was… talking about the floor?
Of all things?
Her hair did almost nothing to cover her tits as she sat up. Now that she’d moved, I could see that there was grease and who knew what else soaking at least a few inches of the soft-looking strands.
That wasn’t going to go over well.
I’d spent an insane number of hours scrubbing myself clean after work every day when Corinne’s wolf was chasing me. She couldn’t stand the smell of the garage, and it wasn’t easy to remove completely. If she’d gotten oil in her hair, there would’vebeen hell to pay. I would’ve had to grovel on an entirely new level.
“It’s polyurea,” I said.
“Cool.” Jade sat back on her heels and dragged a hand through the top of her hair.
